Syllabus 15--illustrated lecture on the homemade fireless cooker

Historic, archived document

Do not assume content reflects current
scientific knowledge, policies, or practices.

Issued April 30, 1914.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS.
A. C. TRUE, Director.

SYLLABUS 15— ILLUSTRATED LECTURE ON THE
HOMEMADE FIRELESS COOKER.1

By Mrs. K. C. Davis and Angeline Wood.
INTRODUCTION.

One of the most useful household utensils winch has recently View-
come into prominence is what is usually known as the fireless
cooker. This name is more or less misleading, as many people
get the idea that no heat whatever is necessary for its Use.
Some even think that food put into it absolutely cold will
come out smoking hot, an obvious impossibility. Misunder-
standing is so prevalent, however, that in this lecture it has
seemed best to give the name of cooking box to this device.

The cooking box is by no means a new invention, for the
principle on which it is built, namely, protecting a hot article
so it will keep hot for a long time, has been applied for un-
counted years. For generations Norwegian peasants, among
whom the whole family goes to the fields to work, have been
in the habit of using so-called hay boxes in which their dinners
cook during their absence. It is said that in Germany working
people sometimes start their soup on the stove and then leave
it between feather beds to finish cooking. Cooks in Maine
lumber camps bury their bean pots in "bean holes" in hot
embers and ashes and leave them to bake during the day.
The "clam bakes," so popular along our Atlantic coast, rep-
resent the same kind of cooking under other conditions.

All these people are employing exactly the same principle
that is behind the construction and use of the most perfect of
the cooking boxes now on the market. The principle may be
stated in a very few words, namely, the protection or insula-
tion of a hot material by a suitable packing or covering so that
the heat will be retained in amount sufficient to cook the arti-
cle, instead of being quickly lost. In the ordinary oven, or
on the top of the ordinary stove, food is cooked by means of

' This syllabus was prepared under the direction of C. F. Langworthy, chief of nutrition investigations,
Office of Experiment Stations. It is designed to aid farmers' institute and other extension lecturers in
presenting the subject before popular audiences. The syllabus is illustrated with 36 lantern slides. The
numbers in the margins of the pages refer to the lantern slides as listed in the appendix. References to
recent literature on the subject are also given in the appendix.
34910°— 14

heat which is continuously applied. If the cooking box is to
be used, the food is heated on an ordinary stove, to the point
at which the necessary cooking process begins; then it is put
into a box so constructed that the heat in the food can not
escape from it except very slowly, and the cooking continues
without the use of more heat. Of course in the oven or on
the stove top, the food reaches a higher temperature or is kept
at a high temperature longer than in the cooking box. The !
latter, therefore, can not be so well used for the kinds of
cooking in which prolonged high heat is needed as for those in
which long slow cooking is desirable.

The fact that gas, kerosene, gasoline, alcohol, electricity,
etc., have taken the place of wood and coal in so many kitchens
probably has had much to do with the popularity of cooking j
boxes in private houses. When there was a fire in the range
all day long, housekeepers could let their cereals, soups, and
other slow-cooking dishes "simmer" on the back of the stove
without thinking of the fuel which was being used up, or if
they thought of it they Avould know they were using a fire
which would be kept up even if it was not thus used. With
gas or electricity it becomes a different matter. Every min-
ute's use of every burner sends the meter up, and to keep the
soup kettle warm means burning fuel for this special purpose
instead of utilizing heat which would otherwise be wasted, as
on the coal range.

Since the power of holding food for a long time near the
temperature at which it is put into the cooking box is the
important feature of this device, evidently the best cooking
box, other things being equal, wiU be the one from which heat
is given off least rapidly.

The cooking box consists in its essentials of a receptacle for
the hot food, and a container for this receptacle which is packed
or otherwise insulated with suitable material, so that the heat
will not escape, but the food will remain hot and continue to
cook. Every woman who wraps up a hot soapstone or a
bottle of hot water in a flannel, so that it may keep hot for a
long time applies the principle of the fireless cooker.

TEMPERATURE INSIDE THE COOKING BOX.

Of course the more heat there is in the material put into the
kettle the more there wiU be which can be confined in it for the
process of cooking which is to go on while the kettle is in the cook-
ing box. Small quantities of food can not be well cooked
in a large kettle in the cooking box. If the cook wishes to use
the box for such small quantities, she will get better results if.

3

she uses some other material which holds heat fairly well to fill in View-
the empty space. This may be accomplished in several ways.
One is to put the small quantity of food to be cooked into a 2
smaller, tightly closed kettle, fill the large kettle with boiling
water and put the small kettle into it, standing it on an inverted
bowl or some other suitable support. This boiling water will
take up and hold the heat better than air would. Another way
is to place one food in a basin which just fits into the top of a
large kettle and to let some other material, some vegetable per-
haps, cook in the water in the bottom of the kettle. Or, two 3
or more flat, shallow kettles placed one on top of the other to
fill the cooker help to keep each other hot. Yet another scheme
is to have a large flat kettle into which several smaller dishes
containing food may be placed and all surrounded by boiling
water. Baking-powder tins or similar boxes often are found
useful for this purpose. Sometimes a hot brick, freestone, or
■ iron plate under the kettle can be used as a source of heat.
In such cases it must not be hot enough to set fire to the packing.

When different foods are thus cooked together in the cooking
box they must be such as require the same amount of cook-
ing. For instance, it would not do to put foods which need
j about one and one-half hour to cook into the box with a piece
of meat which would stay several hours.

How long each kind of food should stay in the box depends
both on the nature of the food and on the temperature which
it keeps inside the box, and before recipes for use with the
cooking box can be prepared one must have some means of
knowing how temperatures are preserved in it. In order to
determine this last point, a thermometer was placed in a 6-quart
kettle filled with boiling water. This was put into the box, and
the packing of the box, which in this case happened to be a
newspaper, had not been previously warmed. The tempera-
ture of the water in readings taken at intervals was as follows :
When put into the box at the boiling point, 212° F.
After four hours had elapsed, 172° F.
After eight hours had elapsed, 155° F.

If some material which was denser than water and, therefore,
could hold a higher degree of heat were put into the cooker, it
would, of course, have more heat to hold and would keep up
the temperature of the box higher than with the less dense
material. Thus, the density of the food material, as well as
the amount, and the length of time that the apparatus retains
the heat, must be taken into consideration in determining how
long different materials must be cooked in the cooking box.

4

A HOMEMADE COOKING BOX.

View. While there are at present many good "fireless cookers" on
the market, it is possible to construct one from materials found
in any home, which will produce as good results as more elab-
orate and expensive ones. i
If kettles holding 6 or 8 quarts are selected for holding the
food, the box in which the kettle is packed should be about 15
inches in each of its three dimensions. A convenient kind
easily obtained is a shoe box 15 by 15 by 28 inches. This may

4 be divided into two compartments. This size allows of suffi-
cient packing to retain heat well with kettles of the size i
mentioned.

The authors tried experiments with the following packing
materials: Hay, excelsior, ground cork, and paper. Asbestos i
and mineral wool were not tried by them because they were i
known to be good, and chiefly because their object was to
find which was the most satisfactory of the materials that can
usually be obtained without cost. They decided that crumpled
paper was the best, as it was clean and odorless and does not
require a cloth lining in the box. Moreover, if it is properly
packed, paper, in the authors' opinion, will hold the heat better
than any other of the common inexpensive packing materials.

The box should have a hinged cover, and at the front side

5 a hook and staple or some kind of catch should be used to

6 hold the cover down. An ordinary clamp window fastener
will be found to answer the purpose admirably.

7 To pack the box crush single sheets of newspaper between
the hands. Pack a layer at least 2 inches deep over the bot-

8 torn of the box, tramping it in or pounding it in with a heavy »
stick of wood. Stand the kettle to be used in the center and
pack crushed papers about it as solidly as possible.

9 Let the packing come to the top of the kettle and just a little

10 higher at the sides of the box. The box should lack about 2^
inches of being full. A cushion or pad must be provided to

11 fill this space after the hot kettles are put in place. This

12 should be made of some heavy goods, as denim, and stuffed^
with paper or excelsior. Hay may be used, but will be found
more or less odorous.

If the box is packed carefully and solidly the kettle can be
removed and the "nest" will keep its shape without a lining.

Where other packing, such as excelsior, hay, or cork dust^
(such as is used in packingMalaga grapes) is used, it is desirable
to put a cloth lining in over the packing to prevent its becoming

5

scattered or out of place. A cylinder of stiff pasteboard made View-
to fit the "nest" will aid in preserving its shape.

As to kettles and utensils to be used for cooking, they should 13
have perpendicular sides, and the covers be as flat as possible
and have a deep rim shutting well down into the kettle. This
i is for the purpose of retaining all the steam possible. How-
ever, it has been found that it is possible to cook in kettles
which do not have these exact specifications. Granite ware is
the most practicable, especially if the covers are also of the
same material. Tin rusts quickly from the confined moisture, 11
though it may be used if necessary. Earthen jars would be
ideal for cooking if tight covers could be had and if they did
not break so easily in bringing the contents to the boiling
point. Their thickness and the material of which they are
made are great aids in retaining heat.

COOKING DIFFERENT KINDS OF FOOD IN THE COOKING BOX.

It is easy to understand that the cooking box is most suit-
able for those foods which require long, slow cooking, and the
application of moist heat, and so is most suitable for cooking
foods which can be boiled or stewed. Doughnuts can not be
fried; pies can not be baked in the ordinary fireless cooker,
nor other cooking done winch requires a high, dry, quick heat
for browning. Meats, however, may be partially roasted in
the oven and finished over hot water in the cooker, or begun in
the cooker and finished in the oven, giving much the same
results as if they were roasted in the oven entirely. This may
save in fuel.

The classes of foods best adapted to the cooker are cere-
als, soups, meats, vegetables (dried and green), dried fruits,
steamed breads, and puddings.

The recipes for dishes prepared in the cooking box differ
somewhat from those for foods prepared with an ordinary
stove, and chiefly in the amount of water or other liquid called
for. Since there is no chance for water to evaporate or steam
to escape from the cooking box, less liquid should be put into
the food than is required for ordinary methods of cooking. The
cook must be guided by experience in deciding how long the
food should be heated before being put into the cooker and
how long it should remain in. Fortunately, there are several
good fireless cookbooks on the market now, whose directions
may be relied on.

6

Cereal Breakfast Foods.

Cereal breakfast foods should be prepared at night while the fire for supper
is hot. Measure the required quantity of boiling water into the cooker
kettle; add salt and cereal; let boil 10 minutes and place in box over night.
Reheating in the morning will probably be necessary. In winter enough for
two or three breakfasts may be cooked at once and reheated as wanted. The
food in the inner kettle should be cooked about five minutes before placing
in the outer kettle. Then the whole should stand over the flame until the
water boils in the outer kettle. Any other kind of breakfast cereal may be
cooked by adopting these general directions.

The raw cereal breakfast foods, such as plain oatmeal, hominy, cracked
wheat, etc., cost less than those which are partly cooked by steam at the
factory, but frequently housekeepers prefer not to use them because they
require so many hours of cooking. A cooking box, however, is especially
well adapted for cooking just this sort of material. Even the cereal prepara-
tions which are partly cooked at the factory and are supposed to need only
a few minutes cooking to make them ready for the table are much improved
by long, slow cooking such as they get in the cooking box. The flavor and
texture of cereal breakfast foods are influenced by the length of time they are
cooked, and with the cooking box it is easily possible to secure the texture
and flavor dependent upon long, slow cooking.

Soups.

The cheap cuts of meats are rich in the food materials that make palatable
dishes, and the bones and scraps are good for making wholesome soup. If
care is taken to use material which might otherwise be wasted, the real
expense for most meat soups is in the long cooking required. The long-con-
tinued, slow cooking which a tough piece of meat obtains in the cooldng
box and the thorough extraction to which bones and soup meat are sub-
jected mean that the cooking box makes stews, ragouts, and similar dishes
and soups cheap foods for the table. American families do not, as a rule,
use as much soup as do foreigners, and thus they miss a useful and pleasant
addition to the daily bill of fare, and one which may be served without much
extra work or expense, if rightly prepared.

For making soup stock or broth with the cooking box, the soup bones should
be well split up, or the soup meat should be cut into small pieces. Wash the
meat, place it in the kettle, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil on
the stove and boil 15 minutes. Do this at night if the soup is to be used at
noon the next day. Place in the cooker overnight. In the morning remove
meat and bones from soup. Strain and remove fat. Return soup and meat
to kettle, adding whatever seasoning is desired. Bring to a boiling point
again and return it to the box and let remain until noon. This stock may
be used as a foundation for several soups, such as vegetable soup, clear soup,
or noodle soup.

Beef soup may be varied almost infinitely by the different seasonings
which may be added. There is scarcely a vegetable grown which is not good
in beef soup. In winter many of the dried vegetables, such as beans, peas,
lentils, etc., are excellent for this purpose.

Dried Lima beans, peas, and lentils make excellent soup without meat.
Since they require long-continued cooking, they are well adapted to fireless-
cooker methods. These dried vegetables cooked with less water and no
meat, rubbed through a coarse sieve and made into the proper consistency
with milk or thin cream, and seasoned to taste, make so-called "cream"

7

soups. Soups made by thinning the cooked legumes with water and season- View,
ing with onion (fried until pale brown), with celery tops, and other vegetables
are very palatable also.

Meats.

Some cuts of meats which are not so readily prepared for the table by the
usual methods are especially palatable if cooked in the cooking box. The
experimenter will soon learn that in cooking meats the amount of boiling over
the flame and the time in the box will depend upon the size of the pieces of
meat being cooked. Meat cut into pieces for stew will heat tlirough more
readily and cook in a shorter time than will a large ham, for example. Most
recipes for stews, pot roasts, boiled meats, and similar dishes can be readily
adapted to the tireless cooker and save time and fuel. The following recipes
are all well adapted to the cooking box, as all of them are dishes which require
considerable time for their preparation by the usual methods.

Pot roast. — Use any preferred cut. Sear in hot fat in a skillet. Place
the meat in the cooker kettle and cover with boiling water. Boil gently
for 30 minutes (20 minutes will suffice if the roast is 3 pounds or less). Place
in the cooker over night. Reheat in the morning, season, and return to the
cooking box until noon. Thicken some of the liquor for gravy. If it is
desired to slice cold for next dinner, return meat to liquor and let stand
until wanted.

Brown fricassee of chicken. — Joint the chicken and brown in fat after rolling
in flour. As pieces brown pack them in the kettle. When all are browned
make gravy in the skillet where the browning was done. Add this to the
chicken with enough boiling water to cover. Salt and pepper. Boil 20
minutes. Place in box over night. Reheat and return to box until noon.
This length of time in the box will reduce the toughest old fowl on the farm
to a state where the meat will fall from the bones.

Roast meat. — Prepare a 4-pound rib roast as for oven roasting. It can be
tied more compactly if the ribs are removed. Place in pan in very hot
oven for half an hour, or sear the roast until brown in a frying pan and then
place it in the oven for 20 minutes. Have ready a small pail into which
the roast will fit as closely as possible. Place the seared and heated roast
in this and set it into the large kettle used in the box, with enough boiling
water to come well up around the small pail. Place in the box for three
hours.

Boasting tough poultry. — Many housewives make a practice of stewing
chicken or turkey which they think is likely to be tough, and the practice
is a good one. It is, however, much easier to boil for 15 or 20 minutes and
then put the fowl, boiling hot, into the cooker and let it remain 10 hours.
It should then be drained, wiped dry, and stuffed, if stuffing is desired, and
roasted long enough to brown it well.

Boiled dinner. — Cook a piece of corned beef and a piece of salt pork in the
cooker overnight. In the morning prepare all the vegetables it is desired
to use and place in the kettle with meat. The greater the variety the better
the dinner. Boil 10 or 15 minutes and return to the cooker. It is best to
leave potatoes until an hour and a quarter before serving, as they are the
only vegetables likely to suffer from too long a time in the cooker. When
they are added bring the contents of the kettle to the boiling point again.
The liquid from the boiled dinner makes a good soup if the corned beef
and salt pork have been parboiled to remove some of the salt.

s

Fresh Vegetables.

View. Carrots, peas, string beans, onions, beets, turnips, parsnips, salsify, and in
fact all vegetables may be cooked in tbe cooking box. They must be given
time according to their age. A safe rule for all green vegetables is two and
a half times as long in the cooker as if boiled on the stove. This method is
particularly good for such vegetables as onions, cabbage, and cauliflower, as
there is no escape of odor from the cooker. A further advantage with cab-
bage, cauliflower, and other green vegetables is that overcooking is avoided.
When green vegetables are cooked too long in boiling water they turn yellow
and lose their fine flavor. This they do not do so readily at the same tem-
perature of the cooking box.

Boston beans and other dried vegetables. — In cooking dry beans, the time
required either in the oven or the cooking box will vary with the length of
time the beans have been kept; the older the beans the more cooking
required. Soak 1 quart of beans overnight; in the morning drain them and
cover with cold water and heat to boiling. Let boil until the skins will
burst when touched very lightly, adding one-fourth teaspoon of soda a few
minutes before taking from the fire. Drain through a colander. Return
to the kettle and add 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of mustard, 3 tablespoon-
fuls molasses, and one-half pound of salt pork, washed and scraped, and cover
with boiling water. Let boil 20 or 30 minutes, then place in the cooking box.
If the beans are new, six hours in the box will be long enough. Old beans
require longer cooking and should be left in the box overnight, then reheated
in the morning, and returned to the box. They will be ready to serve for
the midday meal.

Dried vegetables, such as peas, beans, Lima beans, lentils, or corn may
be soaked in cold water several hours, and then after the preliminary boil-
ing of a few minutes kept from 6 to 12 hours in the cooker. They may be
cooked with salt pork, and thus prepared they are liked by many, or they
may be cooked with vegetable oil, as olive oil, or they may be cooked plain
and seasoned with salt, pepper, and butter or cream. The longer, then,
dry vegetables are cooked in the box the more palatable and the more
digestible they will be.

Dried Fruits.

In the case of dried fruits as well as dried vegetables, long continued, slow
cooking is desirable. A common method is as follows: Wash the fruit well
and let it soak in cold water until it has regained its natural size, and then
place on the back of the range and allow it to remain there for 20 hours, but
do not allow it to boil. When fruit is cooked in the cooking box, it should
be washed and soaked in the way described, heated in the water in which
it has been soaked, not quite to the boiling point, and then placed in the
cooker for five or six hours. Because less water evaporates than when cook-
ing on the stove, a smaller proportion of water will be needed for good results.
If too much is used the sirup will not be quite so rich as usual. Fruit should
always be cooked in an enamelware or an earthenware dish, as tin or iron
may impart an unpleasant flavor to acid fruit, and also give it an undesirable
color.

Puddings and Steamed Breads.

Steamed or boiled puddings, or such as require long, slow cooking, and
steamed bread, like Boston brown bread, are the kinds best adapted to the
cooking box. Every family has its favorite recipes and these may be used,
as the method of procedure is the same for cooking all such foods.

9

The steamed or boiled puddings or breads should be placed in molds well View,
buttered. For this purpose pound baking powder cans are excellent. Coffee
cans or other tin boxes of suitable size with covers will do. After filling
about two-thirds full to allow for the expansion or rising of the batter or
dough, the cans are placed in the cooker kettle and should have the covers
put on before the boiling begins. If any covers are missing, paper may be
tied tightly over the tops. If there are not enough cans to fill the kettle so
that they will not tip over when the boiling water is poured around them, an
empty can or two may be wedged in, to hold the others in place. Fill the
kettle as full as possible with boiling water, as the more water the longer the
heat will be retained. Place the kettle on the stove and boil for a full half
hour and then keep the kettle and contents in the cooking box three to six
hours, or longer if the cans are large ones. This applies particularly to breads
or puddings made with wheat flour. If they contain cornmeal or graham
flour they should be cooked for a longer time in the cooker.

On removing from the cooker it is a good plan to set the loaves of bread in
a hot oven for 10 minutes to dry them a little.

SPECIAL USES AND ADVANTAGES OF THE COOKING BOX.

One of the best points about a cooking box is that it is eco-
nomical as regards fuel. Exactly how much fuel is thus saved
depends on the cook's management. The manufacturers of
some cookers claim that there is a saving of 75 or 80 per cent
of the fuel, but 50 per cent is probably a safer estimate for the
average cook under ordinary conditions. Even half the fuel
is worth saving, if gas costs 75 cents or more a thousand cubic
feet, wood $5 or more a cord, and coal $6 or more a ton.
Wben a coal range is kept hot most of the day anyway, the
cooking box hardly saves much fuel, except with foods which
require many hours' cooking. Its chief advantage in such
cases would be convenience, as foods in the cooker do not
require watching. In summer cooking there is an advantage,
as the housewife who manages skillfully can start her dinner
on the stove early in the morning, place it in the cooker, and
then let the fire go out, and so may keep her kitchen cooler 15
as well as save fuel. With gas or electric stoves, a much
greater saving is possible. It will be the more marked, the
slower and more prolonged the cooking required. In the
case of a roast, which must first be heated through on the
range and after cooking in the box be returned to the oven to
be browned, there would be less saving by tbe use of the box
than in the case of a stew, which would not require so much
cooking outside of the box. In using the box for cooking
several kinds of food at once, the cook must show good judg-
ment in getting the different dishes heated through at the
same time and also in planning combinations which need the
same amount of cooking in the box. Of course any foods
which are quickly cooked may be taken out before the others,

10

view. but ^0 open the box even for a moment makes it necessary to
reheat the other materials before closing it again.

In families where the housekeeper must be away for much
of the da}T, it is of especial value, as meals can be started and
left to themselves while everyone is away from home, and
that without danger from fires left burning. This means
oftentimes that a family can have their home table instead of
boarding, or may have well-cooked hot meals instead of cold
foods and similar dishes purchased ready to eat.

To students and others who are boarding themselves the

16 cooking box is of great value for the same reason.

IT Another advantage which its advocates claim comes from
the use of a cooking box is the possibility of utilizing the
cheaper cuts of meat to advantage. The cheaper cuts, though
not of as fine texture or flavor, are fully as nutritious, pound
for pound, as the more expensive ones. The texture can be
much improved by long cooking, and the method employed in
the cooking box is peculiarly adapted to these tougher cuts of
meat. A skillful cook can impart good flavor by the use of
savory herbs, seasoning vegetables, like onions, fat, etc. All
this means that it is possible to have nutritious and very pala-
table food for less outlay in money than is usually expended.

Some one who witnessed a very successful demonstration
with the cooking box said, "It is a fine thing, and a great suc-
cess, but it takes brains to run it." The remark was very much
to the point. While the actual operation of the cooking box
is simplicity itself, still one must be willing to give some real
thought to it in order to secure the best results. As this must
also be done with other methods of cooking, no one should be
discouraged by one or two failures.

DEVICES FOR KEEPING LIQUIDS HOT OR COLD.

18 The cooking box may be used to keep things cold just as well
as to keep things warm, for heat can not pass in through the
nonconducting packing any better than it can pass out.
There are various kinds of bottles now on the market which are
warranted to keep their contents either hot or cold for many
hours. They may be called vacuum bottles, because a vacuum

19 is used in place of packing. Such a bottle consists of an outer
and an inner bottle of thin glass with the air exhausted from the
space between the two. A vacuum is one of the most perfect
nonconductors known, but unfortunately it is expensive to
produce and maintain in large spaces. Good vacuum bottles
will therefore probably always be fairly costly in comparison
with many other household devices.

11

The Chinese padded tea basket in which the pot of hot tea is
slipped into a fitted "nest" like that made for the kettle in the
cooking box shows an old device for keeping a liquid at a steady
temperature. Tea cozies are another application of the same
principle, though the cozy does its work less thoroughly than
the tea basket, because it does not fit around the pot so per-
fectly. Some persons object to the use of cozies and tea bas-
kets as they think the tea there kept is inferior to freshly made
tea. Undoubtedly the tea leaves "steep" more if the pot is
kept hot in a cozy or basket than they would if it were
allowed to cool, but they certainly do not "steep" as they
would if the pot were kept on the stove. Aside from this the
cozey can hardly affect the quality of the tea. Of course it
should be kept clean and aired frequently.

THE COOKING BOX AS A REFRIGERATOR.

Many housekeepers have discovered that their cooking boxes
are as helpful in keeping things cold without ice as warm with-
out fire. Ice cream or other frozen dishes may be kept in the
cooker and will keep hard quite as long as they would if
packed in salt and ice in the ordinary freezer pail. Some
cooks think that after mousse or other half frozen dishes have
been chilled to just the right point in the freezer it is easier to
keep them at this point in the cooker than packed with ice,
because when packed in ice they are likely to grow a little too
hard. Naturally the cooker can not cool tilings any more than
it can heat them, but just as hot stones can be put in it to
give extra heat, so a piece of ice can be put in to insure extra
cold. When this is done, the cooker becomes in fact a small
refrigerator, in which the ice melts more slowly than if it were
not surrounded by such effective nonconducting packing.

Manufacturers have placed on the market picnic baskets
made of special nonconducting materials and with a compart-
ment for holding ice, and there are also specially made boxes
for keeping milk cool and sweet for babies and invalids while
traveling. These are doubtless very carefully made and of
rather elaborate construction and so command fancy prices.
An ingenious person ought to be able to work out a good sub-
stitute for home use at much less cost. One way to do so
is as follows : Take three stone crocks or other receptacles with
good flat covers, and get a wooden box large enough to hold
them and to allow of at least 3 inches of packing on all sides;
the box should also have a tightly fitting hinged cover. Put
a layer of newspapers or other packing (see p. 4) 3 inches

View.

20
21

22
23

24
25
26

12

view. thick on the bottom of the box, set the three crocks on this,
touching each other. Pack in all the spaces between the

27 erodes and the walls of the box; if desired, the crocks may be
lifted out and their "nests" lined like those in the cooking
boxes, but this is less important here because the crocks do
not have to be taken out to be filled. Make a cushion to lay
over the top of the crocks which will fill in all the space be-

28 tween them and the box cover. When you wish to use the
box, fill the middle crock with ice, place the food in the two
others, cover them all, lay the cushion over them and close
the box tightly. A smaller box, suitable for a single bottle of

29 milk, could be arranged as follows : Take a pail or jar somewhat
larger than the bottle and pack it into a wooden box in the
manner just described. Pack the bottle in the pail with
chopped ice, cover tightly, fill in the space below the box
cover with folded papers and close the box. A fruit jar might
from its shape be easier to manage than a tall, slender bottle.
Such a box can be made of a size suitable for use on a rail-
road journey, and will make cool, sweet milk for a child a
simple problem.

30 A lunch pail which will keep its contents either hot or cold

31 may be constructed easily and cheaply. The materials required

32 are a bucket, a can smaller than the bucket, a pad or cushion,

33 and some crumpled newspaper. This device is very useful for

34 keeping lemonade cool or coffee hot until required at outings.

It would not require much imagination to think of other
simple ways of protecting things against heat, or of many
circumstances under which such protection might prove useful.

In one respect cold boxes are easier to use than cooking
boxes. If for any reason one wishes to take out part of the
contents before the rest, the box may be more safely opened,
for there is less danger of warming the chilled food than of
cooling that which is cooking. The cold box has many uses,
such as have been suggested. It is efficient, easily constructed,
and as it would most often be of small size it would not need
much ice. Its greatest use would seem to be in homes where
there is no refrigerator yet where even a small amount of
food kept cool and in good condition may be a necessity or
at least a great convenience. In the long run, the ordinary

35 ice box or refrigerator undoubtedly does better service in
keeping food cool, for more food can be kept in it with the
same amount of ice. In general principle the refrigerator is,

36 of course, exactly the same as cold boxes, steady tempera-
ture bottles, and cooking boxes ; namely, by means of tightly
closing, nonconducting walls it prevents heat from passing

13

in or out. The common household habit of wrapping ice in
old. carpet or newspaper before putting it in the refrigerator
or ice box simply helps in the good work by providing an-
other closely fitting layer of nonconducting material.

DIRECTIONS FOR GIVING A DEMONSTRATION WITH THE
COOKING BOX.

Previous preparation. — Prepare for cooking in the box some
food that may be easily served if desired, such as cereal, beans,
or dried fruit. Allow time enough so that when the demon-
stration is given the box may be opened and the dish shown
perfectly cooked. Have ready the necessary dishes and spoons,
if the cooked food is to be served. If the audience is not too
large, this may be done easily.

Demonstration. — Give the lecture on the cooking box, using
the lantern slides if this can be arranged. Then open the box
and show the food that has just been cooked, telling how it
was prepared, how long a tune it was cooked on the stove,
and how long it had been in the box.

If convenient to do so, serve in small portions the food taken
from the box. If this can not be arranged, allow the audience
to examine and taste the foods at the close of the talk.

If possible, show some standard make of ice chest, explain
its construction, and show how the principle on which it is built
resembles that of the cooking box. The same may be done
with a vacuum bottle.

APPENDIX.

LANTERN SLIDES.

No. of
view.

1 . Method of cooking a small quantity of food surrounded by boiling water.

2. Showing one way of cooking small quantities of two different foods in one kettle.

3 . A cooking box, showing various utensils used in cooking.

Notice the two shallow kettles which occupy the same space as one large one. Notice also the
deep covers which close the kettles tightly and retain the steam.

4 . Cross section of cooking box, two shallow kettles in one compartment.

5. Fireless cooker, closed.

6. Fireless cooker, open.

7. Fireless cooker, pad raised and lid removed from pail.

8. Fireless cooker, pail removed, and cover of paper packing raised.

9. Fireless cooker, front removed.

10. Fireless cooker, showing cylinder used to keep packing in place.

11. Fireless cooker, packing remaining in place after pail is removed.

12. Fireless cooker, partly reconstructed.

13 . Cross section of the best kind of cover for kettles, showing deep rim which shuts

down into kettle and holds the steam.

14 . The transformed refrigerator, showing kettles used for cooking in the top, and the

insulated oven below, with soapstone slabs used for supplying heat.

15. An ideal combination for hot weather — a gasoline stove to start the work and a

cooking box to finish it.

The best style of kettles is well shown here. Notice the deep rim on Ihecover of the one on the
oven.

16. Bachelors' hall — a cooking box furnishes better meals than the average servant.

17. Vacuum jacketed coffee pot.

18 . Food baked in an insulated oven.

It looks good enough to eat.

19. Vacuum jacketed jug.

20. A Chinese tea basket.

21. Another view of the tea basket.

22. Tea basket with cup and pot inclosed.

23. Tea cozy behind tea pot.
21. Tea cozy on tea pot.

25. Linen cover removed from padded portion of tea cozy.

This cover may be selected to match the other table linen, and may be laundered. The rabbit is
a popular Easter novelty in tea co'.ies.

26. Another view of the rabbit tea cozy.

27. Box packed to take place of refrigerator.

Center jar holds ice. Side jars contain food .

28. Another view of the refrigerating box.

29. An insulated pail easily carried, to hold either cold or hot food.

30. Lunch pail, cover removed.

31. Lunch pail, pad removed.

32. Lunch pail, showing inner milk pail and paper packing.

33. Lunch pail, showing jar of lemonade.
31. Method of tying cover on pail.

35. Vacuum jacketed carafe; keeps liquids hot or cold.

36. Fruit canned, grape juice sterilized, and food cooked in a cooking box.

(14)

REFERENCES.

The Fireless Cook Book. Margaret J. Mitchell. New York, 1909, pp. 315, figs. 18.
The Fireless Cooker. Caroline B. Lovewell, Frances D. Whittemore, and Hannah W.

Lyon. Topeka, 1908, pp. 211, figs. 11.
Fireless Cooker. Ellen H. Huntington. Univ. Wis. Bui. 217, pp. 38, figs. 10.
The Hay-Box Cook-Book. Sarah P. Redfield. Chicago, 1906, pp. 36.
The Norwegian Nest (or Fireless Cooker). Home Science Mag., 20 (1903), pp. 9-11.
The Hay Box or Fireless Cooker. U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 296, pp. 16-19,

fig. 1.

Fireless Cooking. H. G. Sharpe. Rpts. Commis. Gen. (U. S. Army), 1905, p. 80;

1906, p. 15; 1907, p. 13; 1908, p. 11; 1909, p. 12; 1910, p. 16.
Cornell Reading Course for Farmers' Wives. 5. ser., 1907, No. 23, p. 446. (Contains

fireless cooker data.)

Cooking the Cheaper Cuts of Meat. C. Barnard. Housekeeping Expt. Sta. (Conn.)

Bui. 6, p. 17. (Contains data on the use of the fireless cooker.)
An Everyday Convenience for Everybody. Everyday Housekeeping, 22 (1906),

No. 11, pp. 826, 827.

I My Fireless Cook Stove. American Agriculturist, 79 (1907), No. 1, p. 27, fig. 1;
No. 2, p. 57.

The Fireless Cooker in the Hot Months. Boston Cooking School Mag., 17 (1912),
No. 10, pp. 798, 800.

Mutton and Its Value in the Diet (U. S. Dept. Agr., Fanners' Bui. 526, pp. 32).

(Contains some recipes in which the fireless cooker is used.)
Economical Use of Meat in the Home (U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 391, pp. 30).

(Contains some recipes in which the fireless cooker is used.)
Corn Meal as a Food and Ways of Using It (U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 565, pp. 24).

(Contains some recipes in which the firelesc cooker is used.)

Useful recipes and hints for the use of the fireless cooker frequently appear in
magazines devoted to cookery and to home economics. Students can consult such
publications also at their convenience.

o